A LITTLE WORLD FOR LITTLE PEOPLE

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 288, 25 February 1928, Page 27

A LITTLE WORLD FOR LITTLE PEOPLE

THE LITTLE THOUGHT IN THOUGHTFUL MOOD FRIENDSHIP IS A STEADY LIG HT SHINING IN DARK PLACES ISAW something to-day that made me think very hard for ten minutes, said the Little Thought, leaning against the scales in the Jov Shop, his arms folded and his eyes as bright as the newly polished half-ounce weight. “And what was that?” asked the Joy Shop man, lifting the lid from a jar of bottled sunshine and carefully examining the precious mixture. “Well, the Dawn Lady had sent me to peep in at a sick Sunbeam’s window, and, as I came back, I thought I would rest under a cool, green clump of grass on the roadside. The air was very hot and there was no wind at all. Presently an old man came down the road, carrying a bundle. He looked very tired and dusty as though he had travelled a long way. His feet were lagging as he walked and his eyes were fixed on the long, steep h ll at the end of the road. All at once there was a patter of feet and a little boy came running merrily along bowling a lioop as though he had never felt tired in his life. He paused and looked up into the face of the weary old man. ‘Please let me carry your bundle,’ he said. “ ‘Bless you, laddie,’ said the old man, ‘and where did you come from?’ The little boy laughed. ‘Oh, I come from Happy Town where the grass is always green and where the Love Flower blooms on the Happiness Tree.’ “ ‘This is interesting,’ said the old man. ‘Supposing we sit down in the shade of the hedge while you tell me all about it?’ “And the little boy told him all about Happy Town. He even knew about me and he said that every Sunbeam was a friend of his. Then the old man told him what it feels like to leave one’s youth behind and how little boys with hoops can do much to help people who have burdens to carry. As he talked the little boy’s eyes grew dim with tears. ‘I shall always be ready to serve you,’ he said. “Then they passed on their way and, all at once, I knew who they were. The old man was Father Time carrying the troubles of the world, and tho> little boy was Love, with a hoop to bowl instead of a bow and cpiiver slung from his shoulder. I watched them passing up the steep, steep hill, the little boy bearing the old man’s burden. Then I came back to Happy Town to tell the Dawn Lady all about it.” “Perhaps, after all, there is no need for me to bottle sunshine,” said the Joy Shop man, very gently.